Siamese Fireback (Lophura diardi)
Order: GALLIFORMES
Family: PHASIANIDAE Pheasants
Scientific name: Lophura diardi
English name: Siamese Fireback
Characteristic: Size 60-82 cm. A cock has a distinctive bright red facial skin, a bushy black crest with bluish sheen; yellowish red rump patch and long, curved black tail. A hen is smaller in size and having brownish body crossed boldily by black pattern on wings and tail.
Distribution: Thailand and adjoining Indo-China.
Habitat: Dry evergreen forest and the ecotone between the dry evergeen and the dipterocarp forests, also found living in the bamboo forest.
Habit: Mainly terrestrial in foraging habit,scratching among leaf litter for insects, termites, worms, small animals and ripe fruits. Breeds between February-May, and nests on the ground, usually hiding under shrubs or between grass tussocks, and in bamboo clumps, in which 5-8 eggs will be laid.
Status: Generally, a rather scarce resident. Fortunately quite common in Sakaerat area.